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Partners Connected Health To Consider Using iThermonitors

BOSTON (CBS) - Eighteen-month old Isla Woulfe of Malden is a happy, healthy child, but a few months ago when she spiked a fever, she had a seizure.

"It was in the middle of the night and so obviously I was really nervous," says her mom, Alyssa Woulfe.

Afraid it might happen again, Alyssa tried a new device called an iThermonitor.

Placed under the armpit with an adhesive patch and synced through Bluetooth with a smartphone or tablet, the iThermonitor records a child's temperature every four seconds. If the temperature rises above or below a preset threshold, the caregiver is alerted

"It was great because I could get a little sleep," says Alyssa. "And I didn't have to set my alarm every hour to check her, but I also didn't have to wake her to take her temperature."

Not every household needs an iThermonitor because most healthy children do not need to be monitored this closely for fever, but some children have conditions where the presence of a fever could indicate a life-threatening infection.

Dr. Stephen Agboola, a researcher at Partners Connected Health, says that includes patients with leukemia, patients on chemotherapy, patients with HIV/AIDS, or even newborn babies.

Even though the iThermonitor is already on the market, Abgoola and others at Partners Connected Health are studying the device to see if it's practical to use and whether it provides useful information for families.

And the data collected can be shared with a pediatrician.

"Physicians and nurses can see the trends and the changes in temperature," says Dr. Kamal Jethwani, senior director of Connected Health Innovation at Partners Connected Health.

"They can figure out even if though this person didn't really have fever, there's a trend here that is concerning that we want to think about or change medications," he added.

Alyssa is happy she can finally get some sleep and not worry about whether Isla is developing a fever at night.

"If she does get sick, it really helps give that peace of mind," she said.

Developed by a company in China, the iThermonitor is currently available online and retails for $99.

Partners Connected Health hopes to have some study results by July, and if the device looks like a good investment, they will help Partners hospitals and clinics put it into practice.

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